Incorporating effective marketing strategies to obtain funding ensure long term success for your nonprofit. Since nonprofits rely heavily on the support of donors to continue the growth and impact of their mission, it is crucial to effectively communicate your message so that it can reach your desired audiences effectively and clearly and donors will want to contribute and support your organization. Here are 5 tips to help market yourself to funders:
1) Use Social Media platforms to reflect your values and beliefs
Social media is an effective marketing tool which provides the ability to connect with your audience. It is important to create content on your social media outlets that are directly related to your organization’s values and objectives. This will allow your audience to know exactly what your organization does and believes in. Also, keeping up to date with your content is a must! Let your audiences know about your recent activities, and keep them in the loop, so they can see how active your organization is, and ways to get involved. It is important to create an online community of followers and people that you follow too. Engage and share content which is relevant, and use this tool to the fullest!
2) Create clear messages and useful content
Expressing your values, objectives and how you will achieve your goals is crucial for marketing yourself to a funder. If you would like to have more financial support and grow your list of supporters, your potential funders must understand and believe in your initiatives. Having a clear message will also draw attention to your organization, so that funders know exactly what they will be supporting. Remember to be clear, and transparent when creating content!
3) Determine your target market
It’s important to define who your target market is to understand your audience. Ask yourself: What is their age ramge? What are their occupations? What are their interests? These are all important key elements to understand your target market, so that the content aligns directly with your audience’s interests. It can also be helpful to research similar organizations and see how they market themselves to a similar target market.
4) Create a powerful online presence
Creating an online presence means optimizing all online outlets which you have created and interacted with. This can include social media, websites, and any search results that come up when you are “Googled”. Your online presence can be used to reinforce your goals to a much wider audience. Once you are able to effectively communicate with your audience, your next step is to create a web presence that interacts with as many stakeholders as possible – including funders. Create a schedule and plan how you will achieve an effective online presence that will reach your target audience. The stronger your presence, the more likely funders will be to encounter your organization and to want to support you.
5) Create a blog
Creating a blog is a way to encompass all the previously mentioned tips. A blog can be incorporated through your website and your social media outlets. This will allow your audiences and potential funders to learn more about your organization and become inspired! In your blog, you want to communicate your goals clearly and enthusiastically, in order to convince funders to support your cause. Be sure to include all links to your social media outlets and be consistent with your target market when creating content. Also, a blog is great way to build your online presence through interacting and building a community who is passionate about similar causes.
